Thursday, June 9, 2011

Grounded

Little Leo is the most dramatic, passionate, delightful, headstrong, endearing, charming, confident, SMARTEST one year old I have ever met. Today at the Library, he was getting the evil eye from another mother while he was throwing a huge fit on the ground. Within seconds, he had her wrapped around his finger with a nose scrunch, a smile, and a "wook at dat". She was all of the sudden head over heels in love with the kid. I just sat back, and thought "wow, that boy is good".

This little Leo grounds me. I will be stressed, trying to handle his outbursts/ mischeviousness/hunger/biting/hitting (or whatever else he was up to that day). But then at night I put him to bed, and he falls asleep in my arms without a fight. He wraps his chubby little arms around my neck, his sticky fingers pat my back, and he breathes softly into my ear. All of the sudden my feet reach the ground, and I see how far he has come. We struggled the first few months with putting him to bed, because he would fight us and cry out in his sleep. But now... He falls into our arms. It reminds me of the game "Trust", and I realize that he was challenging me all day because he was testing me. Then he just falls into my arms at the end of the day, because I passed all of his challenges and he still trusts me.

Every night I think about how much he grounds me. When I am putting him to bed, I realize he has brought me exactly where I want to be... Both feet on the ground, rocking back and forth, enjoying my baby boy. Sticky hands and all.